Betfair signs Arsenal betting partner deal
European deal with Premier League club excludes key UK and Italy markets, as well as Russia and Ireland
Betfair has announced a partnership with Premier League club Arsenal FC with the operator becoming the club’s official betting partner in Europe, excluding the UK, Italy, Russia and Ireland.
The terms of the deal have been designed as not to infringe upon a previous UK betting partnership deal Arsenal signed with Paddy Power in 2013, which is due to run until next year and also covers Ireland and Italy.
The partnership will include Betfair branding at all domestic fixtures played at the Emirates Stadium, as well as access to first-team players for promotion and marketing activities.
“We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with Arsenal,” Stephen Mault, Betfair’s head of media, PR and sponsorship, said.
“We will offer our range of pioneering products, exclusive offers and promotions to supporters across the season and we look forward to building a successful relationship with both club and fans,” he added.
The club also has agreements with Bodog as its official Asian betting partner, which includes Russia, and with Markets.com as its forex, CFD and binary trading partner, with Arsenal welcoming Betfair to its “family of commercial partners”.
Betfair continues to ramp up its marketing efforts having recently launched its first mainstream football campaign in the UK.
In June CEO Breon Corcoran singled out the firm’s Tap Tap Boom campaign as a key driver of Betfair’s impressive FY15 growth, noting that Betfair had spent around £28 million more on marketing and customer bonuses than the previous year.
The firm’s marketing spend looks set to increase further into 2016, with sponsorship deals with Aston Villa and Sunderland already signed, as well as prime spots on Sky Sports and BT Sport’s football coverage secured.